Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Syrian army 'totally controls' Qusayr region: state TV.

Syrian army 'totally controls' Qusayr region: state TV.

AFP

A Syrian army soldier sits in his tank in the southwestern neighborhood of the Syrian city of Qusayr. — Photo AFP

DAMASCUS|05|June|2013:: Syria's army has overrun the strategic region of Qusayr after a blistering offensive against rebel fighters, state television said on Wednesday, marking a major victory for regime forces in the 26-month conflict.

The battlefield success comes as officials from Russia, the US and the UN gathered in Geneva Wednesday to work on a peace conference for Syria in the wake of fresh allegations that the Damascus regime has used chemical weapons.

“The Syrian army totally controls the Qusayr region in Homs province after killing a large number of terrorists and capturing others,” the television report said, using the regime's terminology for the rebels.

President Bashar al-Assad's forces backed reportedly by thousands of fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement launched an offensive to retake Qusayr, a key region on the Lebanon border, on May 19.

Rebels fighting to retain control of Qusayr town were later joined by hundreds of reinforcements from Lebanon, most close to the Muslim Brotherhood, leading to pitched battles in which civilians, many of them wounded, became trapped.

Doctors had appealed for the Red Cross to be allowed in to treat the wounded but Syrian officials said this would only be permitted once the rebels had been defeated.

Civilians who had managed to flee Qusayr described it as “a ghost town, heavily damaged and filled with the sound of bombs,” the UN refugee agency UNHCR said Tuesday.(Courtesy:Dawn) Read More>>>